The NHL playoffs are now upon us and for the Edmonton Oilers’ fans this means the return of three things: the crowd at the Rogers Place singing the O’ Canada, the party at the Moss Pit, and of course, the playoff edition of the Sunday Census.
Heading into the Sunday match-up with the Los Angeles Kings, the Oilers are trailing two games to one and there has certainly been no shortage of excitement in the series so far. From difficulties on the penalty kill to both teams combining for 30 goals scored, this series is primed for a frenetic completion.
This week we asked you, our Twitter crew, what needs to massively improve in order for Edmonton to win the series. This is how the voting played out in one of the closes votes in Sunday Census history.
Let’s dive into what the Oilers need to improve on heading into Game 4.
Want to take part in Sunday Census polls? We send them out every week on our Twitter at @oilrigEDM. Follow along or send in ideas for the next poll!
Goaltending is the most important focus
With a 0.7% edge over the next option, goaltending was voted as the area that requires most improvement. With Oilers giving up 16 goals against in the first three games, goaltending becomes an easy scapegoat to blame. Stuart Skinner has had his fair shares of playoff mishaps, having been pulled six times in his playoff career so far.
While getting Skinner or Calvin Pickard to step up and make more saves is not an unreasonable ask, it certainly does become less reasonable after watching the Oilers’ defensive mishaps and the degree of chances they are giving up to the Los Angeles Kings. And this leads me into the next point.
Defence is almost equally as important
Coming in a second place for what you, the voters, thought was the area that required most improvement is the Oilers’ defence. Watching the likes of Adrian Kempe put up four goals and nine points in the playoffs so far has been made easy by the team leaving wide open shots that neither Skinner nor Pickard have a chance at saving. Goals three and four in Game 1 were prime examples where both Kempe and Phillip Danault, had open looks in front of Stuart Skinner.
Giving up 16 goals by any team in three games is a lot and the Oilers’ defence certainly has its work cut out for them. If they are to have any chance against the dangerous Kings team, they must limit the high danger chances they are giving their opponents, push them to the perimeter and limit any rebounds available.
Edmonton needs a better penalty kill
A close third at 31.7%, behind goaltending and defence, is penalty kill. There is absolutely no surprises about this one. As it currently stands, the Kings power play has converted on seven out of 12 opportunities, a staggering 58.3%. While the Oilers penalty kill did have some great moments last game where they looked poised to kill a full penalty, they continue to prove to be no match for the Kings’ mighty man advantage teams.
This is a far cry from last year’s Oilers team that killed 66 out of 70 power plays in the playoffs for a torrid 94.3% penalty kill percentage. The Oilers are continuing on without a penalty kill stalwart in Mattias Ekholm and must find a way to get their penalty kill in order before this series gets out of control.
Oh and the best kind of penalty kill? The one that does not take a penalty in the first place.
The lineup composition is not an issue
With only 1.4% of voters selecting this option, the lineup composition was voted as the least likely area of improvement needed for the Oilers. Kris Knoblauch has put on quite the blender with the lineups this season, partly due to lack of chemistry between some players and partly due to injuries. However, a case can be made about Knoblauch allowing the players and line compositions to stay put for more time in order for teammates to find some more chemistry with one another, especially after a successful (though not overly convincing) Game 4.
As the Oilers head into the game four match-up with the Los Angeles Kings later today, time will tell which of the aforementioned areas has been more (or less) addressed in the short two day break.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
